TV: Horizon: Mission To Mars

At a cost of around two and a half billion dollars – and weighing over a ton – Nasa's Curiosity rover represents humankind's most significant excursion to Mars to date, and a rare success story among the crumpled wreckages of so many failed attempts. This Horizon doc, which aired several weeks before news broke of the mission's successful touchdown on the red planet's surface, follows the Curiosity team as they attempt to build a machine that can conquer what many scientists refer to as the Bermuda Triangle of space. The special will be available on iPlayer until 17 September.

TV: Roots

Our pals over at the Guardian's TV & Radio Blog have declared this six-part epic, concerning a family's journey from slavery to freedom, one of the great American mini series. Roots proved immensely popular when it aired in 1977, and went on to win a slew of awards. Find out why over on iTunes, where you can buy the whole thing.

TV: Nature's Microworlds

Truly these are golden days for the nature documentary, with two fine BBC efforts airing at the same time. You can catch the final episode of The Dark this Sunday on BBC2, while the whole of this series, which looks at animal and plant life in some of the world's most diverse micro-climates, is on iPlayer until 27 August.

Audio: New Noise

TV: Errol Morris – Team Spirit

This ESPN-produced short doc directed by Errol Morris (The Fog Of War, Tabloid) delves into the curious world of the sports-themed funeral. It's a topic that might come off as flimsy in lesser hands, but Morris manages to draw humour and a surprising humanity from the subject matter. Sports-themed caskets do a roaring trade in the states, but some seek to take their fandom even further, with one of the deceased making arrangements for his body to be displayed in his old armchair at the funeral to suggest that he had just "nodded off" while watching the game.

TV: Drop The Dead Donkey

As Channel 4's Funny Fortnight revisits some of its greatest comic moments, it seems only fitting to suggest a rewatch of this satire on TV news reporting, which, until Peep Show recently gazumped it, was the channel's longest-running sitcom. Catch all six seasons over on 4oD.